Star Trek Into Darkness hottie Chris Pine chatted to Out magazine about how proud he is of co-star and buddy Zachary Quinto for coming out last year.

"So happy for him, oh man, I thought it was rad," he said of Zach coming out. "It was really, really cool. He did it on his own time, on his own schedule  and Jonathan [Groff], who he's dating, is such a lovely man. He's a good guy and a great actor, and they make a fantastic couple. I couldn't have been happier for Zach."

"It was something that I knew about Zach from the moment I met him," Chris added. "It was just who Zach was and that's that. Knowing that for Zach it was more about a career thing and that he was not comfortable at the time coming out  it was fine.

"It was something that we kind of tiptoed around, and I just took it as a given, because that's what he wanted."

Zachary and Chris have been working together for the past few years on the production of JJ Abrams' Star Trek films as unlikely buddies Spock and Kirk.

Together Spock and Kirk build a close friendship that fans and postmodern theorists have characterised as "homosocial" and at times homoerotic, spurring copious fan fiction (aka "slash fiction") dedicated to their bond.

Chris was well aware of the fan's expectations when taking on the role and longs for a day when gay characters are more prevalent in popular films.

"Right now I just want to play good roles," he said. "And if the role happens to be a gay man, that's not of any import other than is it a good story? Does it say something that's interesting?"

"All it really takes is the fact that the man isn't going home to his wife, but has a boyfriend at home. I think it would be a wonderful thing to see."

Zach came out in 2011 during an interview with New York magazine while chatting about his work on Angels in America  an off-Broadway play about the AIDS epidemic spiralling out of control in the '80s.

"[A]s a gay man, it made me feel like there's still so much work to be done," he said. "There's still so many things that need to be looked at and addressed. The undercurrent of that fear and that, you know, insidiousness still is swarming. It's still all around us."